Risk of injuries is always of concern for athletes, particularly for athletes competing in contact and/or physical sports in which protective clothing is recommended or required, such as for example sporting activities including ice hockey, lacrosse, cricket, field hockey and the like. Particularly for such stick based sports, players usually wear protective gloves such as to limit potential damage to their hands and wrists which may be caused by impacts directed thereagainst by the puck, ball or other players' sticks, as the case may be.
Such protective athletic gloves must offer protection to the wearer's hands and wrists, while nevertheless permitting the wearer good flexibility and range of motion. In particular, lacrosse necessitates a substantial range of motion of the wrists for precise manipulation of the stick, and as such flexibility of the gloves around the wrist joints must be maximal. Accordingly, typical lacrosse gloves usually include wrist cuffs which leave a circumferential gap at the inner wrist such that the player may freely flex his/her wrist, leaving this area unprotected and as such susceptible to injury.
Other gloves include unitary cuffs surrounding the wrist to protect all areas thereof, at the detriment of substantial interference with the wrist's flexing motion.
Accordingly, improvements are desirable.